Indiana Jones and the Last Blog Post

Sunday, October 30, 2011

I’m walking through a narrow twisting passage cut well over 100 feet deep through a wall of solid rock. The pinks and blues and beiges of the limestone walls make fantastic patterns that swirl in the few shafts of light that reach the floor of the defile. After more than a kilometre, I come around a final twist in the passage, and there it is: the Lost City of Petra. And I think to myself, “What would Indiana Jones do next?”

Well he’d probably do something stupid, like snake the end of his bullwhip over a wooden beam and swing into the stone building that is catching the morning light. Me, all I had to do was to take out my camera and enjoy the experience.

The building I am staring at is The Treasury, the first structure you see when entering this archeological wonder, and certainly one of its major highlights. Like almost all of the buildings in Petra it is carved right into the face of a limestone mountain.  The façade is almost 40 metres high, with columns and a rounded centre roof, flanked by two half pediments with a large opening to a room in the centre.

 As Indiana could tell you, Petra was built some 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans, a people who disappeared after the area was taken over by the Romans. Most of the buildings and caves seem to be tombs, ranging from simple holes in the wall for the lesser lights, to opulent affairs like The Treasury, which was built for a king. The reason Indy would know something about it is that The Treasury featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But you don’t need a movie fantasy as an excuse to come here. Petra has more than enough to make the trip worthwhile.

After The Treasury, the path takes you through an extension of the Siq, that long twisting passage through the rock that started my adventure. It soon opens up into a dry dusty valley between two rocky ranges of hills. Everywhere you look there seems to be something carved into the flanks of the hills. The centuries have worn away some of the definition here and there, but the carved fronts of the tombs and houses are still stunning. The main path roughly follows the wadi through the valley – a dry river bed that will likely have water in it in a few weeks as the rainy season gets underway.

I eventually come to what would have been the city for the living in this valley of tombs. There’s an 8,000-seat amphitheatre that was built by the Nabataeans, despite its Roman look. Nearby is the remains of a main street. At one time it was lined with columns, but only bits and pieces remain.

Then it’s time for some more strenuous hiking. A path rises up over the top of the hill on the right. It’s about 900 stone steps up and over, but 45 minutes later I’m rewarded with a spectacular view: The Monastery.  This is another royal tomb carved into a wall of solid rock. It’s is similar in style and detail to The Treasury, but even bigger at almost 49 metres tall. The moment I saw it I said “wow” out loud. It is amazing. While it is a tomb, it gets its name from the time the Byzantines used it as a Christian chapel.

There was more, including the remains of a Byzantine church with well-preserved mosaics covering the length of both side aisles. I looked at my watch and realized that I had been wandering around Petra for seven hours.

I’m going back for another brief look tomorrow. Then it’s onto a bus for the trip back to Amman, and on to a plane Tuesday morning for the trip home to Canada. It has been a fabulous journey and this will be my last blog post until the next adventure. Let’s see… where else would Indiana Jones go?